Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Earlier this year I shared with you my top 5 winery recommendations in the Tuscany wine region. Today I'm sharing my 5 favorite winery visit to the Piedmont wine region. My first visit to the Piedmont wine
region in 2009 was fantastic and I can't wait to go back. Most I
have written about already on my site if you have been following
along. Let's get started!

One
of the days I decided to pull off the road at a winery I saw to do
one of my last tastings of the day at Fratelli
Revello. It was a busy time that I was there in the heart of the
harvesting season, the first week of October. For
more, here.....

I
entered behind the gates that day located right in the city center
and it opened up to this square which contained the Ascheri's
operations. The owner, Matteo, pleasantly greeted me at the door and
gave me a brief introduction of the Ascheri winery. For more,
here....

The
tasting room was very modern with multiple tables for tastings and
walls lined with bottles on slanted shelves. I tasted their Nebbiolo
d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba and three of their Barolos from different
vineyards (Cannubi, Liste and their “Lecinquevigne” which comes
from 5 different towns/vineyards). For more, here....

One of my
many great experiences exploring the Italian wine regions was a visit
to Carlo Giacosa’s winery in Barbaresco in the Piedmont region,
which is in the northwestern part. It was a random stop that day,
but Carlo Giacosa himself couldn’t have been more welcoming. He
invited me to sit down while he shared his wines and homemade
prosciutto served by his hospitable wife, Carla and his daughter,
Maria Grazia, now running the winery along with her father.

They grow Nebbiolo, Barbera and
Dolcetto, typical of this region, from 5 hectacres of land. For the
first time ever they introduced their first white, Sara, named after
the youngest Giacosa member of the family, in March 2014 from the
Arneis grape with the Langhe DOC designation.

For a feature of one of Carlo Giacosa's
Barbarescos I took home with me with a typical Piedmont recipe read
more.

Barbaresco
since 1796 when Benedetto Elia first purchased the estate. More land
was acquired through the years as vines were also replanted. In 1893
his grandson,Giuseppe, rebuilt the wine cellar and in this year is
when they starting producing their Sori Paitin Barbaresco. I'm still
storing my Sori Paitin Barbaresco made from 40 year old vines and
look forward to sharing that with you eventually. Today Second
Pasquero Elia, whom took the winery over in 1965, along with his sons
Giovanni and Silvano are producing the wines at Paitin on about 42
acres (17 hectacres) of land. I met Giovanni upon my arrival and he
provided me with a tour and sampling of the wines. It was very neat
to see wines at that moment being packaged that were actually being
sent to my hometown of Boston. I'll be covering this winery more in depth in upcoming articles so stay tuned.

Giovanni Pasquero Elia of Paitin

If
you venture to the Piedmont wine region you may want to check out one
or more of these vineyards and let me know what you think. You will
not be disappointed. If you have been to others that you loved I'd
love to hear from you.

Friday, September 26, 2014

As many of you know that follow my blogs I love the Piedmont wine region not only for its wine, but its food, people and the overall beauty of the land. I had sampled some pleasurable wines from this region last week meeting the export manager that shared with me a variety of wines from Azienda Agricola Giacomo Fenocchio.

Vineyards of Fenocchio

The Fenocchio estate was founded by the patriarch of the family, Giovanni Fenocchio, in 1864. There have been five generations worth of winemaking within this family still carried on to this day by Giacomos' sons, Claudio, Albino and Alberto.

Claudio Fenocciho

It wasn't until the 1960's when the family began exporting their wines and today are exporting over 80% of their wines. Prior to World War II all the wines were consumed locally. This presence abroad is what has driven folks to explore this winery as I did and appreciate yet another family that has such rich culture and traditions and whom highly respect the land on which they live and work.

The Fenocchio family believes in continuing the traditions of what Barolo is known for and doesn't believe in altering much the traditional ways of making these wines like some of the modern style winemakers. They balance their yields and try to produce the wine as naturally as they can with natural yeasts.

I tasted the 2009 Fenocchio Barolo Bussia. This Barolo comes from the area of production, Monforte d'Alba, but the specific cru named Bussia. The Fenocchio family aged this barolo for 6 months in stainless steel followed by 30 months in large Slavonian oak barrels and finished with a year in the bottle. This wine is 100% nebbiolo, which is required by the Barolo DOCG law. It comes from 30 year aged vines with south to south-west facing slopes. It had rich black cherry with hints of licorice. Nice structured tannins. I compared this wine to their 2009 Fenocchio Barolo Villero, but I enjoyed the complexity and depth of the wine much more with the 2009 Fenocciho Barolo Bussia. This wine has received a number of awards including 93 points from the Wine Enthusiast and the Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri.

Barolo is one of the best wines in all of Italy and is a wonderful wine to pair with aged cheese and meats. It's a very powerful, complex wine and usually is on the pricier end. Definitely a wine to splurge on and with the holidays it's the perfect time of year to celebrate. Although, when I open a bottle like this it becomes its own celebration. When you think of the history and the process this wine goes through it's well worth the investment.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

I have been fortunate enough to be given the honor of being the new columnist for the Bostoniano, which is an Italian American magazine in Boston. I'll be featuring anything and everything Italian and wine related including events, interviews, etc. Be sure to support the Bostoniano and subscribe!My first issue will give you an in depth background on my wine career with the Italian wine importer that I work for, PSP Imports. It also discusses the owners, Giuseppe and Nicola Savignano, and how they came about fixing up an estate in Tuscany to produce a line of wines that are imported under the PSP brand. Tenuta Santo Pietro also offers wonderful all-inclusive trips that I sell to visit the estate in Pienza, Tuscany. Please see my tours page for more information and email me for additional information.For now enjoy the PSP Imports article!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Now I know today's blog may raise some
eyebrows when I say pecorino. You're instantly thinking of the
cheese known oh so well to the Tuscany and Sardinia regions in Italy.
Percorino Romano and Pecorino Toscana are cheeses made up of sheep's
milk. I have fond memories of visiting a local deli in the town of
Pienza in Tuscany and buying a small block of cheese to nimble on
between vineyards along with a fresh pecorino and prosciutto sandwich
enjoyed on the wall on the outskirt of the city center viewing the
Tuscan countryside. It's definitely one of my favorite cheeses
produced in Italy. When you have the opportunity to buy it from the
source fresh it's oh so good! Although today I'm not talking food,
I'm talking wine. Pecorino produces white wine native to the regions
of Abruzzo and Marche, but is also found in Umbria and Lazio.

Not a bad view while enjoying lunch ~ Pienza

Last week I sampled the 2013 Valori
Pecorino Bianco DOC at the Masciarelli
grand portfolio tasting that I spoke about the other day. Valori
is one of the brands that fall under the Masciarelli Wine Company's
portfolio. The owner of the Azienda Agricola Valori winery, Luigi
Valori, has been producing wines in the Abruzzo region at his estate
since 1996. His vineyard is located in the northern province of
Abruzzo, Teramo, which is situated on the hills of Sant'Omero and
Controguerra. His vineyards consist of about 64 acres (26 hectacres)
of vines that are 40+ years old. With the vicinity to the sea and
the Gran Sasso mountains, along with vineyards about 160-300 meters
above sea level with exposure to the south are the influences that
characterize the wines produced at the Valori winery.

Luigi Valori

The 2013 Valori Pecorino Bianco on the
nose providing a lot of citrus and minerality that carried through to
the palate. It had mouthwatering, zesty acidity with a nice
crispness to the wine. Dare I say this wine goes well with Pecorino
cheese ; ) I recommend seeking out both the pecorino cheese and
pecorino wine on your next visit to your local wine shop and tell me
what you think.

Friday, September 19, 2014

I love discovering
new grapes and rare ones at that! This week I had the honor of
attending the Masciarelli
Wine Company's grand portfolio tasting at the Boston Harbor Hotel
right on the water. A beautiful event and a great showcase of
Italian wines from many regions of Italy. I'll be sharing a variety
of wines and grapes with you over the next week or two, but today
we're going to start with an indigenous grape to the area of Puglia
that was almost extinct, but it's being brought back and largely due
to the efforts of Tenute Rubino.

Brindisi in Puglia

What is Susumaniello?If I said the word
susumaniello to you how many people would know what that means? It's actually the name of a grape
indigenous to the area of Brindisi in Salento, Puglia. Puglia is a region located on the southern heel of the boot. Ivan, the Export Manager, explained to me that “susu”
means go and “maniello” meaning donkey. Go donkey! Being
dialect I wasn't familiar with what either of those words meant.
That's what I find so interesting in Italy how people from different
regions have a hard time understanding one another. Donkeys are
obviously used to carry lots of weight and with this grape being a
very productive wine in it's youth the vines must carry the burden of
holding these abundance of grapes on the vine.

Susumaniello is a
very small blackish grape with thick skin that produces red and rose
wines. A lot of times it's used as a blending grape, but the wine I
sampled was 100% susumaniello, which I always appreciate more being able
to explore its true characteristics.

Wine tasting of SusumanielloI sampled the 2012
Tenute Rubino Oltreme Susumaniello from Salento. This wine is
aged in stainless steel only. This wine was balanced with soft
tannins and on the nose and palette blueberries stood out to me the
most along with some plum. Tenute
Rubino originally started with 94 acres (38 hectares) of vineyards planted with this grape and now currently have 47 acres (19 hectares) through
its revival process.

Pairings with SusumanielloTenute
Rubino recommends pairing this with “savory dishes such as
stuffed aubergines and peppers, orecchiette with tomato sauce,
risotto with porcini mushrooms. It pairs well with cold cuts,
semi-cured cheeses and grilled meats.”

I'm all about supporting anything going
extinct whether it's animals (yes I've adopted elephants and rhinos
after my African safari) or wine. Get out there and find yourself a
susumaniello and support ancient history!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Taking a break from Italy for a day to feature a winery from my home area. I've been fortunate to have spent most of my life in the
Lakes Region of New Hampshire, specifically Lake Winnipesaukee, since I was
born. My parents have always owned a
home there and we traveled there every weekend from when I was a baby. Till
this day I still frequent this area often year round as its beautiful for all
its seasons in so many ways.

In recent years I started discovering the wineries of New
Hampshire. Earlier this year in February
I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the new winery that was opening nearby
on Main Street in Meredith, Hermit Woods,
prior to their grand opening. Their
original winery began in 2011 in Sanbornton, NH as a partnership between Bob
Manley, Ken Hardcastle and Chuck Lawrence.
Due to the growth of the winery they have relocated to this wonderful establishment
in downtown Meredith, a great edition to the community.

Hermit Woods creates a unique spin on wines by producing drier
style wines with fruits like elderberry, kiwi, apples, blueberries and
rosehips. I must say I was hesitant at
first, as I always am, at going to wineries that are producing “wine” out of
fruit. I have sampled some in the past
and what they are producing is hard for me to call wine. I love when I am proven wrong and can open my
eyes to wineries that are doing something well and Hermit Woods is that place
for these fruit based wines.

I met with Bob and Ken on both of my visits at the pre-opening
as well as my tasting this past weekend.
They have a beautiful tasting room with wine barrels displayed overhead
upon your entrance. There is also an
outside tasting area on the deck that is seasonal. The actual production facilities are located
underneath the tasting room where the wine is stored in temperature controlled
rooms along with 550 gallon tanks. This
expansion and relocation to Meredith has allowed them to increase their
production. In their old establishment
they produced about 1,000 cases annually and now in their new facility they are producing about 2,000 cases with the hope of expanding to 4,000 cases soon.

Ken, Hermit Wood's winemaker, has been making wine since
1996. He has a passion for experimenting
with fruits and other elements like oak and yeasts for the future tailoring of
wines that they will produce. They use
fruits and 100% pure honey from NH, ME, VT and PA.

The Three-Honey wine had an aromatic nose along with a silky
texture and elegance to it on the palate with a light touch of honey. This wine
is made from three unfiltered white honeys, also known as spring honey. The wine is produced solely on honey, water
and yeast. It won a gold medal at the
top mead competition, Mazer Cup, in
Boulder, CO.

The second wine I enjoyed was the 2013 Heirloom Crabapple
wine. It's made from the dolgo apple
that in the 1800's was originally used in making cider. This started as an experiment as they first
tried these apples from Bob’s yard. Due
to the feedback and demand for this wine it has grown to be a favorite among
tasters. This wine is made of 95% crabapple and 5% blueberries. I enjoyed the crisp and tartness of this wine. It was like biting into an apple and the
finish was enjoyable as it lingered.

Lastly, the 2013 Deep Blue is made 100% from blueberries
only. The blueberries are grade A tiny
blueberries brought in from Downeast Maine.
It takes about 1 pound of blueberries to make a 375 ml bottle of this
wine. There was a beautiful lusciousness
of this wine. It was like liquid
blueberry pie in a bottle. I'd love to
know how this would taste over pancakes instead of syrup.

The Lakes Region has a lot to offer and making a stop at
Hermit Woods is well worth the visit.
Grab a bottle for a picnic, a gift or just because. A great upcoming event is the Barrel Tasting
Weekend October 4th and 5th from 11am to 5pm at a number
of the wineries in the Lakes Region.
Don't miss it!

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Welcome to our 4th
Wine Pairing Weekend event. I was very excited when this month's
theme was focused on regional food and wine pairings. Being a lover
of Italian wine and having traveled throughout Italy, many regions
came to mind, but a region I love for both their food and wine
combined is Piedmont. Piedmont is located in northwestern Italy
bordering Switzerland and France. I have written some
articles of this region that you can enjoy this weekend. You
must explore this regions wine and food and today we'll get you
started!

I partnered with
Elisa from Milk, Honey &
Rum, which is a website dedicated to the culinary delights of the
Piedmont region. Her website is great as you can search for recipes
depending on seasons, types of food, different courses or even
dietary restrictions. Elisa, being from Turin and having lived in
Piedmont throughout her life, loves to share her fond memories of
food and how it contributes to the lives of the Piedmont residents
and those that enjoy the savory goodness from this region. Today
I'll feature one of the recipes from Elisa's site. Another site whom
I've enjoyed from the Piedmont region is Turin
Epicurean. They share the local culture, food and wine of the
region.

The fall is a
wonderful time to be in Italy, especially Piedmont. Majority of the
time I have traveled over to Italy has been in the fall. When I
visited Piedmont last in 2009 it was also in October. Food festivals
are in abundance in Piedmont with some of their prized cuisine
including truffles and mushrooms.

Being a fan of
mushrooms I couldn't bypass the recipe that Elisa shares on her site:
a porcini mushroom risotto. Being in Italy this is a perfect time
of year for tracking down porcinis. I remember visiting local folks
that had husbands out hunting down truffles or maybe got lucky enough
to find some porcinis to bring home for dinner. I wish I could walk
out into my back yard or the local woods and find these specialities!
You can view Elisa's full
recipe and details to try on your own.

I followed Elisa's
recipe, minus having the fresh porcini mushrooms, so I substituted
them for the dried porcini mushrooms that I soaked in wine, trebbiano
di montepulciano to be exact, while I was preparing the risotto. My
addition to the end of the recipe was a 24 month aged parmesan cheese
that I shaved on the top that I must say was quite delicious. I
topped it off and opened my special 25 year aged DOP traditional
balsamic vinegar that I purchased from Acetaia
di Giorgio in Modena last October. Opening the bottle and
smelling the balsamic again brought back my visit there and to my
wonderful tasting. All I added were a few drops on the top of the
risotto as the richness and density of the balsamic will make your
taste buds go wild.

Porcini mushrooms
have a very distinct taste and earthiness along with a pungent smell.
While I was cooking my meal I kept smelling the wonderful aromas of
the porcinis soaking in the glass. For this food and wine pairing I
chose a red wine that itself lends its earthiness and with porcini
mushrooms being a meatier type of mushroom I felt this was a good
option. One of my most memorable winery visits in Italy was to Carlo
Giacosa's winery in Barbaresco so I chose to open his 2005 Montefico
Barbaresco to pair with this meal. It's very hard for me to part
with my treasures I bring back from Italy, but this being a special
occasion and meal it was worth it! That just means I have to get
back to Italy to replace any items I used of course.

Even after not
finishing the bottle that night the wine was still in tact the next
day with just as good structure. The color of the wine had an
elegant tinge of orange around the edges. On the palate was full
body, high acidity and well-integrated tannins. I picked up some
candied strawberries with a hint of cherry and a little bit of spice.
The lengthy finish was enjoyable to savor every taste and bite.

Wine Spectator's
review

“Aromas of crushed strawberry, with a
hint of cherry, follow through to a full body, with a sudden flash of
very ripe fruit and a long, caressing finish. Balanced and fruity.
Best after 2011. 650 cases made. -JS

Score: 92. —James Suckling, September 30, 2008.”

Cin Cin!

Make this meal and
enjoy a beautiful bottle of wine from this region and you'll feel
that you have a piece of Italy, specifically Piedmont, at home!

Don't miss an Italian wine blog ~ Subscribe

Be sure to check out these great pairing from my fellow #winePW 4 bloggers!Culinary Adventures with Camilla is posting "Chuletas de Cordero + Tempranillo"Grape Experiences is pairing "Avantis Estate Malagousia 2013 and Greek Shrimp"Curious Cuisiniere will share "Wisconsin Cheddar Grilled Cheese with Door County Winery's Peninsula Red"foodwineclick is sharing "Minnesota Wine at the Midwestern Table"Pull That Cork will be sharing "winePW 4: Sicily"Confessions of a Culinary Diva will blog about "New Mexico: Burgers, Bubbles and Beer"Rockin Red Blog will share about "A Rustic Meal in Valpolicella"Cooking Chat is blogging about "A Paso Pairing: Grilled Tuna with Halter Ranch Syrah"Join the #winePW conversation: Follow the #winePW conversation on Twitter throughout the weekend and beyond. If you're reading this early enough, you can join us for a live Twitter chat on our theme "Regional Food & Wine Pairings" on Saturday, September 13, from 11 a.m. to noon Eastern Time. Questions for the chat are posted here on the #winePW site. You can also visit our group Pinterest board to pin some great pairing ideas for later! Stay tuned for the October Wine Pairing Weekend, which will focus on "Fall Fruits and Wine Pairings" on Saturday, October 11.
ᐧ

Friday, September 5, 2014

I wanted to include some examples
of wineries in my post last week on the use of cement in winemaking in Italy,
but Italians are very hard at work harvesting this time of year or getting
ready for the harvest and were delaying in providing some information. Today, I have two examples of producers that
are using cement in their winemaking, Poliziano and Fabrizio Dionisio.

Earlier this summer I wrote my top 5 winery
recommendations in Tuscany for
Robert Dwyer of the Wellesley Wine
Press with Poliziano being one of
the features of the article. David, the
export manager of Poliziano, provided me with information as to why there is
the use of cement at Poliziano. Cement
is an Italian technique used in different years. The best quality and fundamentals of this
technique include:

constant temperature
control

good percentage of gas
exchange

permeability

neutral organoleptics

Cement tanks of Poliziano

Thermal inertia or constant thermal
control facilitate the post-processing of alcoholic fermentation. The must isn't subject to thermal stress in
cement, therefore, it can mature and deposit in natural ways the dregs.

In regards to the gas exchange and
permeability, with the cement being porous it permeates a majority exchange of
oxygen in respect to stainless steel, which is useful for the life of the
yeast.

The neutral organoleptics is given
to the fact that the cement is a lot more easier to clean in comparison to
antique barrels. This reduces a lot of
the risk of unwelcome bacteria during fermentation.

In a previous blog
on the wines from Fabrizio
Dionisio in Cortona, Tuscany I discussed that they use cement vats in
producing their Syrah named “Il Castagnino”.
Their cement vats are glass lined.
Il Castagnino was produced to experiment with the Syrah grape and
showcase Syrah in different styles in comparison to their flagship wine, Il
Castagno, that has won a number of awards.
The Castagnino itself has also won awards receiving a 91/100 from James
Suckling and 87/100 from Wine Enthusiast.

Fabrizio Dionisio uses cement to produce a wine that is young and that
exalts freshness and acidity where the smells and tastes aren’t masked by the
aging in wood. The Il Castagnino is always
released the year following the vintage.
For example, the 2014 that they are harvesting now will be released in
April 2015. After the vinification in
stainless steel, they leave it in cement for some months for the final assembly
of the wine and to give it stability. On
a recent visit the partners of my company visited Fabrizio Dionisio and
provided some great pictures of the cement vats to demonstrate what the wines
are aged in.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Since I have
covered many Italian wine regions throughout my Italian wine blog
journey I don't want to forget about some of the others we haven't
discussed yet, even though some of them aren't that well known for
producing high quality wines. Just like the United States has every
state producing wine, so does Italy with wine regions. Today we're
going to cover the Lazio wine region, also known as Latium. Without
knowing it most of you will be familiar with it or have even been to
it as it houses the capital of Italy, Rome.

The white wines of LazioA lot of the wine
in the Lazio region is white and is made mostly from the trebbiano or
malvasia grapes. There are 25 DOC wine regions within Lazio. One of
the DOC regions you may have heard of or have tried yourself is
Frascati, but not many of the wines from this region will pop into
your mind firsthand when you think of Italian wines. Most of the
wines in this region can be found around the Alban Hills, which are
located south of Rome. According to Vino Italiano, 80% of all the
wine in the DOC wine regions of Lazio are produced here. The
elevations are higher and the volcanic soil is well drained.

One of the most interesting names for a DOC wine region resides in Lazio named Est! Est! Est! Di Montefiascone, or also just known as Est! Est! Est! It translates in latin to “it is”. The story is that a German bishop was en route to watch the coronation of Henry V and sent his scout ahead of him to mark the places that had the best wine with est!. Upon his arrival in Montefiascone he was overly impressed so he marked the door with Est! Est! Est! The story may be more entertaining than the wine is known for though.

The red wines of LazioAlthough this area
produces mostly whites it does have an indigenous red to the area
known as cesanese, but outside of that you will find your
international varieties like merlot and cabernet sauvignon and some
of the other red grapes produced within Italy. There originally was
1 region that was granted the DOCG designation, Cesanese di Piglio,
from the Piglio region. In 2011 two more regions joined in,
Frascati Superiore and Cannellino di Frascati.

Foods of LazioTraditional foods
of the Lazio region that you will want to sample when tasting wines
from this region include spaghetti alla carbonara, cacio e pepe
“cheese and pepper” and bucatini all' amatriciana. If you want something on the lighter side there is fresh pecorino romano or fried artichokes.